Down the Road
by rineren
Summary: They had both given up their professional baseball careers for each other and for the new little member in their family.
1. Chapter 1

**Diamond no Ace**

_I had given up on this idea a very long time ago, but I decided to pick it back up and try again. Ahh, and I'm pretty bad at coming up with titles so sorry I couldn't call this something a little bit better. Anyways, I was going to put this in my oneshot pile, but I decided to give it's own thing at the last minute, so I really hope you enjoy it! Like always, thanks for checking this out and please excuse grammatical errors. _

_Disclaimer: I own nothing obviously. If you would like a link to the side image, please message me and I will gladly give it to you._

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**Down the Road**

**Chapter 1**

It was early and the room was still dark, but his alarm was already buzzing like crazy. Annoyed by the loud sound, he slowly opened his eyes again before letting out a yawn. He was more tired than usual and once again, he was unable to get enough sleep. He wished he could stay in bed a little while longer, but he knew that was impossible. He needed to get ready for the new day.

Stretching out his hand to turn off the alarm, Miyuki suddenly felt something heavy and warm pressing against his body. He looked to the left side of the bed to find Eijun curled up against him. He was still fast asleep despite the sound of his alarm and he wore a dreamy look on his face. He was drooling all over his shirt which always ticked Miyuki off. It was his fault he had to wake up so early since Eijun was too dumb to make breakfast or get her ready properly. He always ended up doing everything himself. Frustrated, Miyuki rolled his eyes to himself as pushed the blankets aside. Then again, he didn't have much of a choice since this was the life he had chosen.

Eijun stirred in his sleep as he laid there quietly looking up at the ceiling. He scooted closer to him before Eijun unconsciously placed his head over his arm. Miyuki glared at him, but didn't say anything as he tried to shake off the rest of his sleep. He stared at Eijun for a while, wondering how he could even sleep so soundly and peacefully. Seeing him that way irritated him, but it also made him quite happy. After all, he was one of the few lucky people that shared an everyday life with the person he loved. Letting out a sigh in utter defeat, Miyuki briefly smiled before he gently pushed back Eijun's hair. He leaned in closer and gave him a small peck in the forehead. He looked at his sleeping face for a few more seconds before he started pinching his cheeks without mercy.

"Hey? Hey! What are you doing?!" He barked at him, trying to push his hands away still half asleep. His eyes were still closed and he was swinging his hands randomly probably hoping he would get him. Sitting up on the bed, Miyuki let out another yawn as he stretched his hands in the air. His entire body felt sore, but that was only to be expected. He had trained harder than ever the day before with others since his current job was really beating him down. Picking up his glasses off the night table, Miyuki turned around to find Eijun starting to fall back asleep. He was all wrapped up with the bed sheet, his arms tightly hugging on his pillow. Irritated by his childish behavior, he snatched Eijun's blanket away and forced him to get up. For some reason, this was their routine everyday.

"Get up already. How old are you?" Miyuki scolded at him as his eyes unconsciously wavered up and down the shirtless Eijun. He silently gulped when he realized that Eijun had fallen asleep in his boxers again. It was amazing just how well he tempted him even after knowing him for so many years. "Do I have to wake you up everyday?! Take some responsibility for once!"

Eijun didn't say anything but he somehow managed to sit up. He stared at him blankly as his eyes kept wanting to roll back. Then, he waved him off and laid back down on the bed. By that point, he was really starting to get on his nerves. "Five more minutes...I promise...Five more…."

With a sigh, Miyuki stood up and headed toward the bathroom. He didn't get why he even bothered to argue with him in the first place. It was always the same and in the end, Eijun always ended up getting things his way. It was amazing just how much they both had changed over the past few years, but nothing surprised him more than realizing that they had both given up their professional baseball careers for each other. Miyuki smiled to himself as he got ready to take a shower. While everyone was shocked to hear he was quitting for a time, Miyuki didn't regret it one bit.

It was crazy to think that anyone would give up fame and fortune for a stupid idiot who couldn't even take care of himself. He didn't think anyone in their right mind would ever think of doing such a thing. Then again, he still had trouble believing it himself and it was clear that it was a decision he had made on pure impulse. However, despite the irrationality behind everything, he was very happy with his current life. He had a well paying job that still involved him with baseball and he lived with a stupid idiot that somehow managed to take over his thoughts. Then, a little angel happened to appear in his life as well.

After taking a shower, Miyuki headed back to his room and thankfully, Eijun was already up. He was stumbling around the room in his sweat pants, trying to find some decent clothes. With a smirk on his face, Miyuki sneaked up behind him and wrapped one of his arm around his waist. He let his hand travel up to his bare chest, a feeling that he passionately loved. Eijun, however, was quickly taken aback, but he recomposed himself and reluctantly took his hand. Leaning his chin on his shoulder, Miyuki gave him a kiss on the cheek before turning him around completely. Taking advantage of silence and as they stood face to face to one another, he quietly gave him another kiss but on the lips this time.

"Morning," He whispered, pushing back his hair so he could get another look at his cute forehead. Eijun stayed quiet and turned to look away with some embarrassment. It was obvious that he felt uncomfortable when he did those sort of gestures, but that was probably the main reason why he even bothered with them in first place. Even though he was already a grown man, he still loved to see Eijun blushing madly because of him.

As the awkward silence continued on between them, Miyuki watched as Eijun got the courage to kiss him back. It wasn't anything big, but his Eijun's soft kisses meant so much to him. While the smirk on his face widen, Miyuki playfully ruffled his bed hair around and decided to kill the sudden arising mood. "Anyways, you should go wake her up."

With that being said, Miyuki stepped outside the room and lazily headed toward the kitchen. He put on his apron, rolled up his sleeves and got ready to make breakfast. He always enjoyed cooking, but he never thought that he would actually cook for someone other than himself. For some reason, ever since he and Eijun moved in together, he became the one responsible for making meals and lunches. While he didn't really mind, making breakfast every morning took up quite a bit of his time. That was partially the reason why he woke up earlier than what was actually expected from him. He spent the majority of his morning pushing Eijun around and making food. Even so, he didn't really have much time to spend with his family beside the mornings since his current job was quite demanding.

If he had continued playing professional baseball, he and Eijun probably wouldn't have any time for each other at all. Then it was likely that she wouldn't be there with them either. He would have probably continued traveling without rest and without having the chance to experience the real family warmth. As these thoughts floated around his head, Miyuki silently gripped the pan's handle with frustration as he fried the stuffed omelet.

With a sigh, Miyuki turned off the stove and headed down the hallway to the room. He needed to get dressed and see if those two weren't having any problems. The entire apartment was too quiet and that worried him. Usually, when those two got up, a revolution was bound to start and sure enough, before he even stepped inside his bedroom, he came across the most disastrous thing he had ever seen. His jaw dropped and he couldn't believe the idiot Eijun could be sometimes. "What in the world did you do to her hair!? It's a mess! Did you even bother to use the damn brush!? You're completely pathetic! I can't believe this."

"What?! I really did try this time!" Eijun hollered as he stepped out of the bathroom. He was already dressed and he was wearing the suit that he loved the most. He angrily walked in their direction, but he only directed irritation toward him. "See. I parted her hair perfectly. I didn't even pull her it this time. Isn't that right, Mizuki?"

She was definitely not pleased with Eijun's excuse and she probably would have been better off brushing her hair on her own. Miyuki kneeled down to get better look at her disastrous hair. He could tell that Eijun had tried to brush her hair into pigtails, but somehow, he ended up tangling her hair with the hair tie. Then, half of her bangs were missing and there were a few loose strands of hair in different places. Clearly, Eijun wasn't cut out for it.

"Dad, I don't like it." Mizuki told him, pulling on one of her badly made pigtails to show him Eijun's failure. "I hate it! I hate the way Daddy did my hair today!"

By that point, she was getting ready to cry, but Miyuki couldn't really blame her since her hair looked impossible to untangle. Picking her up, Miyuki decided he would have to find a way to fix it properly like always. Eijun scratched the back of his head before he tried to apologize. "I'm so sorry, Mizu-chan! I promise I'll brush your hair better next time, okay!? I'm already getting better at it, right?! Besides, there's no way he's better than me at it!"

"No, I don't want you to anymore!" She exclaimed as she playfully stuck out her tongue. Then, she quickly buried her small face on his shoulder, her small hands embracing him tightly by the neck. "I prefer Dad!"

Eijun was completely shocked by his daughters words, but Miyuki couldn't help giving him the smug look of triumph. "Oh, you hear that. She prefers me over you. I guess that shows who's the better dad, huh?"

After that, Eijun threw a tantrum and no one could get him to shut up. He started raging on about how he was better than him. He ended up bickering with Mizuki again like a small child, but that was something that he had already grown used to. In fact, sometimes it seemed that he was the parent of two kids instead of one. Laughing at Eijun's pathetic attempt to convince Mizuki that he was a better, Miyuki looked at the two human beings that gave his life meaning.

This was it. This was the life he had chosen over baseball.

...


	2. Chapter 2

**Diamond no Ace**

_I'm suppose to finishing up some prompts, but instead, I decided to work on this story instead. I don't know how many chapters this will have, but I will try my best to not abandon it halfway. I'm really liking this even though I'm not entirely sure where it's going yet. _

_Anyways, I would like to thank you for the support and for reading my stuff. It means quite a lot for I am not a perfect writer at all. So, like always please excuse my grammatical errors and I hope this chapter meets your expectations! _

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**Down the Road**

**Chapter 2**

He watched as she quietly stepped outside the classroom after the teacher had called out for her. She looked around nervously with her backpack still in her hands before she finally spotted him. Standing by the doorway, Eijun waved his hands to grab her attention even though she didn't seem to happy to see him. With a pout, she walked toward him and he happily extended his arms to embrace her. However, Mizuki completely ignored him and stood right next to him with a rather sad look in her face. Wondering what was wrong, Eijun kneeled down in front of her and took her backpack. He gave her a smile, but she sadly kept avoiding his eyes.

This wasn't the first time he had seen her that way, but lately she was looking more depressed than usual. He hadn't told Miyuki about it yet because he thought he could handle it, but of course, that wasn't the case. He was really starting to worry since it seemed like she was only capable of showing her sad little face to him. Then, when he tried to talk to her, she kept quiet. She hide her feelings and tried to convince him that everything was okay.

He didn't know how he could help her if she didn't tell him what was wrong. There was only so much he could to do as a parent after all. Still, since Miyuki wasn't really around much because of work, Eijun made sure to keep an eye out for her whenever he didn't know what kind of complex feelings a five year old was capable of having, but he always emphasized more than enough that he was there for her. Trying to ease of the unwanted tension, he gently pushed back her hair that he had so terribly messed up in the morning.

"How was school today, Mizu-chan?" He asked her, trying to cheer her up a bit. She lifted her head and Eijun was glad to see her eyes light up a little. Still, she remained silence and discreetly turned to look at her teacher. She was standing by the classroom door, staring at them with a concerned look in her face. With a gulp, Eijun began feeling unease. "Did you learn anything fun?"

"Why didn't Dad come?" She asked him, changing the topic completely. Eijun stood up with a sigh as he placed her backpack over his shoulder. He always knew that Miyuki was her favorite, but it was still kind of hard for him to accept since he would constantly brag about it. As his eyebrows twitched with irritation, Eijun tried to not think about her question much. "I drew a really cool picture. I wanted to show it to Dad."

"Well, you can always show it to me, too?" Eijun suggested with a smile even though she didn't seem to convinced. She pouted her lips again and turned away with an attitude. Aside from everything else, she was probably still upset that he completely messed up her hair. Then, adding to the fire, he didn't get her to school in time and she ended up getting a tardy because of him. While it wasn't much, she was pretty picky when it came to those sort of things.

"No, Daddy doesn't know anything about art." She commented and Eijun came close to losing it. Just like Miyuki, she really loved to make him mad. It was probably something she had learned from him. "Will Dad be home early today? I want to show him my drawing."

"I don't know." He said truthfully, scratching the back of his head as he thought about him. "He has been a bit busy lately and it's the start of the new season, too, so I'm not sure. Let's just hope he does, okay?"

Mizuki nodded happily and took his hand, but before they walked out the building, Mizuki's teacher called for him. He didn't realize she was still there and quickly apologized for ignoring her. "Umm, I'm terribly sorry to bother you, but I would like to speak to you about Mizuki-chan."

"Oh, no. It's fine." Even as he said this, he grew incredibly worried and his heart began to race faster than usual. He patted Mizuki's head before he leaned closer to her. He grabbed her hands to realize they were trembling. "It's okay, Mizu-chan. Why don't you wait by the door while I talk to your teacher really fast? It won't take long and if you like we can go to the nearby bakery after."

She didn't say anything to his request, but she did go stand by the door like she had been told. Eijun stared at her as he watched a frown appear in her face. Even though they didn't really get along sometimes, he really loved her and it hurt him to see her so down that way. It was sort of strange to believe since she seemed fine in the morning. He questioned why she only seemed unhappy whenever she came out from school and he wondered if Miyuki had seen her that way as well. Eijun turned to look back at the teacher with a long sigh. Maybe something was happening in school that Mizuki didn't want to mention.

"I've been noticing something odd in Mizuki-chan lately." The teacher began low enough so Mizuki wouldn't hear them. However, her words still alerted him enough. "Recently, I've noticed that she isn't really getting along with the other kids. When I tell them to get into groups, she always insists on being on her own. During playtime, she's always playing by herself as well and sometimes I feel like she doesn't want to associate with the other children. I don't know if this is something we should be concerned about, but it would be helpful if you spoke with her about it. She's a very sweet girl after all and I don't want her to have problems with the other children."

"Thank you for informing me." Eijun replied, feeling something dry stuck in his throat. The problem wasn't as bad as he imagined, thankfully, but there were still certain things he feared. "I will definitely have a small talk with her."

Saying his farewell, Eijun went to Mizuki and she surprisingly grabbed his hand again. They walked out in complete silence, but since he had promised, they started walking to the nearby bakery. It was strange that she wasn't saying anything even after getting a brief idea of what was going on. Unsure of how to start a conversation, he suddenly picked her up and sat her down over his shoulders. She squealed in return before she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Hmm, I wonder what we should get? Maybe we should buy one those cakes your dad brought us the other day. They were really good, huh?" Eijun told her, trying to sound a bit more happy. Yet, he still got no response from her and it really bothered him. As her dad, he really wished she could trust him and tell him what was troubling her. "Mizu-chan," he said after a small pause. "Your teacher told me that you're not really getting along with the other kids. Is that true?"

"No, that's n-not true." Mizuki told him even though her voice was shaky, hugging him even tighter. "I have lots of friends and I play hide-and-seek with them too. Last time, they couldn't even find me. They said I was the best at hiding."

"Okay, that's good to hear then." Even he didn't exactly believe her, some of his uneasiness went away. "Hey, Mizu-chan, if anyone ever bothers you or picks on you for whatever reason, just tell me. I'll defend you and get them back for sure! Just you watch! They'll never bother you again after that!"

She laughed at the seriousness in his voice and he wished he could hear her like that all the time. He loved to hear laughter and see her smiling because it filled his chest with indescribable warmth. He loved her more than anything in world. She was his everything and just like he couldn't live without Miyuki, he couldn't live without her either. They were both important in his life.

He remembered when he had gotten scolded by his grandfather when he had turned down an offer from the MLB. Everyone called him an idiot and told him that he wasn't going to get such proposal ever again. They were all so disappointed in him, but Eijun didn't expect them to understand his decision. He had chosen Miyuki over everything because he loved the guy and because he wanted to spend the rest of his life by his side. Baseball was important to him, but he didn't have to go all the way to America to play it.

In the end, Miyuki gave up his professional career as well and became the new baseball coach for Seidou. Then, much to everyone's surprise, he also got a pretty good job as a personal trainer in a sports facility center. Then, Mizuki ended up appearing in their lives and he honestly couldn't have asked for more. They weren't anywhere near perfect, but he couldn't complain about the life he had chosen. He didn't regret it one bit.

"Ahh, Daddy, you can't do that!" She slapped her small hands on his cheeks, snapping him from his thoughts. "You'll get in trouble with Dad if you pick a fight with my classmates!"

"Yeah, well, he doesn't have to know about it!" He reassured her with a mischievous laugh. It was impossible to keep anything hidden from Miyuki. In fact, he couldn't even lie because he would easily be caught by him. "So you make sure to tell me, okay?! If anyone is messing with you, I'll get them for you!"

"Okay, okay, Daddy! I will!" She was laughing at his nonsense which brought a smile to his face. Then, a few seconds later, he suddenly felt her yanking his hair. His jaw dropped from all the pulling and he wondered what she was doing to him since he couldn't see. "There! You look really cute, so don't take them off!"

Lifting one of his hands, Eijun realized Mizuki had taken off her hair ties to use them on him. She had taken the chance and made him two pigtails on top of his head. Even though the people walking by would stare at him with laughter, Eijun made no effort to take them off. Instead, he showed them off proudly because they were made by his lovely daughter. "Okay, I won't take them off, but I can't let your dad see me like this!"

"Let's take a picture!"

Mizuki kept insisting for picture and it wasn't long before he gave in to her pleading. When they arrived at the bakery, they ended up arguing between a vanilla and chocolate cake dessert. However, not long before, Eijun had tried calling Miyuki. He wanted to ask him if he was coming home early or if he was coming home at all. He wanted to tell him that Mizuki wanted to see him and that she was having some minor problems at school. He wanted to tell him that Mizuki needed more support than ever.

But, like always, he didn't answer.

...


End file.
